10 Health benefits of Garlic
1. Garlic contains a compound called Allicin, which has potent medicinal properties. It is a plant in the Alium (onion) family. It is closely related to onions, shallots and leeks. It grows in many parts of the world and is a popular ingredient in cooking due to its strong smell and delicious taste.
2. Garlic is highly nutritious, but has very few calories; it also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients. In fact, it contains a little bit of almost everything we need.Garlic is low in calories and very rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6 and manganese. It also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients.
3. Garlic can combat sickness, including the common cold; garlic supplementation is known to boost the function of the immune system.If you often get colds, then adding garlic to your diet could be incredibly helpful. It helps to prevent and reduce the severity of common illnesses like the flu and common cold.
4. The active compounds in garlic can reduce blood pressure; cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes are the world’s biggest killers. Supplement doses must be fairly high to have these desired effects. The amount of allicin needed is equivalent to about four cloves of garlic per day.High doses of garlic appear to improve blood pressure of those with known high blood pressure (hypertension). In some instances, supplementation can be as effective as regular medications.
5. Garlic improves cholesterol levels, which may lower the risk of heart disease; garlic supplementation seems to reduce total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, particularly in those who have high cholesterol. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides do not seem to be affected.
6. Garlic contains antioxidants that may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia; this protect against cell damage and ageing. It may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.• Garlic may help you live longer. Effects on longevity are basically impossible to prove in humans. But given the beneficial effects on important risk factors like blood pressure, it makes sense that garlic could help you live longer.The fact that it can fight infectious disease is also an important factor, because these are common causes of death, especially in the elderly or people with dysfunctional immune systems.
7. Athletic performance can be improved with garlic supplementation; garlic was one of the earliest “performance enhancing” substances. It was traditionally used in ancient cultures to reduce fatigue and enhance the work capacity of labourers.
8. Garlic can improve physical performance in lab animals and people with heart disease. Benefits in healthy people are not yet conclusive.
9. Eating garlic can help detoxify heavy metals in the body. At high doses, the sulfur compounds in garlic have been shown to protect against organ damage from heavy metal toxicity. Three doses of garlic each day even outperformed the drug D-penicillamine in symptom reduction. It was shown to significantly reduce lead toxicity and related symptoms in one study.
10. Garlic is easy to include in your diet and tastes absolutely delicious. This is not a health benefit, but still important. It is the fact that it is very easy (and delicious) to include garlic in your current diet.It complements most savory dishes, particularly soups and sauces. The strong taste of garlic can also add a punch to otherwise bland recipes.